Where Dreams Begin
by ForeverFalling86
Summary: Because don't all little boys dream of far away lands with dragons to slay and maidens' hands to win?


**Because we all had those days when we'd have rather been off in our own world then in the one we actually lived in. **

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_Any child could spin you a tale of magic and beautiful worlds where good always vanquished evil if compelled. Dreams lined with gold. Of cotton clouds, dastardly dragons and heroic knights. Their innocence betrayed through their perception of the world around them and the worlds that they carried with them and projected onto daily events. _

There'd been a time when he could lay in the grass and pretend he was off in a distant kingdom, away from their hateful words that cut deeper then any enemy knight's sword. He could lay there under the light of the sun until it was no longer there to heat his skin and the stars had welcomed the moon.

Back when the clouds had been dogs running through the sky and butterflies fairies with their tickling kisses and colourful wings. When the river had been a colossal ocean filled with mermaids ready to drag him down into the watery depths and show him their glorious underwater palace.

Back when it didn't matter that none of the other children would look at him because there was a dragon to slay and a princess to save.

A stick had been his sword, a rock formation his castle that had protected him and sealed away the outside world.

Back then goblins had traipsed through the woods late at night and the sly foxes had whispered enticing words so they could lead him away into their world of trickery and absurdity.

Owls had offered their wise advice should he ask as they stared down at him from their perches high up in the trees with their wide, wild eyes. Cats had slunk around his legs and led him away with a wave of their tail and the promise of fortune.

He'd lived a life filled with adventure even if to the outside world he spent his days in solitude hidden away behind a wall of rocks occasionally talking to no one but himself.

But what they couldn't see was the pixie sitting on his shoulder or that the wall of rocks was really a magnificent castle fit for a king.

They didn't belong in his world any more than he belonged in theirs.

Where he was from the bruises had been caused by a nasty troll that had tried to burn down the village before he'd fought it off and the cuts from an angered water nymph. The broken arm had been from falling off of the castle tower and not from the large man who lived on the corner.

But as time went on and his Kingdom grew larger the two worlds- his and theirs, began to blur together.

They mixed and clashed in waves of sound and colour until soon trolls were seated behind the counter of the grocery shop glaring at him as he set his money down. Then the princess had come to live with him and brought with her the smell of peach blossoms from the orchards from which she hailed.

Children were catching the fairies in nets before pinning them down and tearing away their wings; their vibrancy and colour; all that made them whole and beautiful. And people were just as sly as the foxes that had tried to lure him away into the forest under the cover of night only now they lured him away from the Princess and Queen and into the darkened streets.

But even though his world was in chaos he was still the knight of his Kingdom and when they broke his sword he forged another and when they beat him down he climbed back to his feet.

Because he knew that one day he'd be King of the land and then they'd be sorry.

The ugly trolls and goblins that had once been ugly people would bow down to him in respect and the foxes would run in fear while he celebrated with the fairies which he had come to love for their gentleness.

He couldn't say how much time had passed since he'd discovered his world. It could have been years or months, or maybe weeks but he'd had the luck to meet the fairy Queen when a Giant had been pestering him and he'd begun to regret not bringing his sword.

She'd defeated the over large creature and looked down at him with a flip of her hair the colour of copper and eyes made of summer storm clouds.

And she uttered promises of strength and power- all that he needed to ascend to the throne, before she'd disappeared in a whirlwind of rust and black.

And that evening as he settled for the night in the company of the Princess and the growing ever more elderly Queen and was confronted about his behaviour his eyes were still focused on his not so far off Kingdom.

He didn't listen as they accosted him. Complained of his blurred perception and childishness. He ignored their pleas for him to focus on the world _around_ him and not the one that only he saw.

Because he'd been living in his world for far too long; grown too accustomed to the magic that bombarded him from every direction and the creatures that dogged his every step. To the adventure. And he feared being pulled away from it, the safe place where he'd lost himself and found shelter from the harshness that he'd lived with.

He was afraid of leaving it all behind and being forced to see everything for what it truly was.

Because it was his home.

Because he truly loved it.

Because he was a coward.

But also because maybe, he didn't want to know where his dreams ended and the world really began.


End file.
